Ukraine reports the destruction of 22 Russian drones

The Ukrainian military said on Thursday it had shot down 22 of 56 drones used by Russian forces in attacks on areas in central and western Ukraine overnight.

The interceptions took place over Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kiev, Mykolaiv, Odessa, Poltava, Ternopil, Sumy and Zhytomyr regions, the Ukrainian Air Force said.

Serhii Popko, head of the Kyiv city military administration, said on Telegram that the attack damaged a residential building.

In Mykolaiv, Governor Vitalii Kim said Russia was targeting energy infrastructure.

Officials in Sumy also said the Russian attack damaged a residential building and several emergency vehicles.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Thursday it had destroyed six Ukrainian drones over the Oryol region, four drones over Kursk and three drones over Bryansk. Officials in these regions reported no damage or casualties.

US President Joe Biden spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday about defense assistance for Ukraine in the fight against Russian aggression.

Biden also announced a $425 million security assistance package for Ukraine that includes additional air defense capabilities, air-to-surface munitions, armored vehicles and munitions critical to meeting its urgent military needs.

The United States will supply Ukraine with additional equipment in the coming months, including hundreds of air defense interceptors, dozens of tactical air defense systems, additional artillery systems, hundreds of armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles.

Biden is expected to host a virtual meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group next month to coordinate international assistance to Ukraine.

Zelensky plans to advance his country’s case for NATO membership on Thursday when he meets in Brussels with defense ministers from the West’s main military alliance. However, NATO chief Mark Rutte said “difficult” questions remained before Ukraine could join.

In a speech to the Ukrainian parliament on Wednesday, Zelensky outlined what he called a “victory plan” to end Russia’s 32-month invasion, including calling for an unconditional invitation to join NATO and deploying a non-nuclear deterrent against Russian aggression.

“Together with our partners, we must change the circumstances so that the war ends,” Zelensky said. “No matter what [Russian President Vladimir] Putin wants us all to change the circumstances so that Russia is forced to make peace.”

Rutte said Ukraine’s eventual membership in NATO would be “irreversible” when the time was right. However, since Kiev could not join during the war, he declined to set a timetable for membership. Zelensky has repeatedly called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Ukraine and restore the country’s territorial borders before Russia unilaterally annexed Crimea in 2014, a proposal Moscow has rejected.

According to the NATO Charter, each of the 32 member states is obliged to provide military assistance in defense of an attack on the other members. This provision was invoked only once, when numerous countries sent troops to fight alongside U.S. forces against al-Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan after their 2001 attack killed nearly 3,000 people in the United States .

NATO countries, led by the United States, have sent billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine for Kiev to use in the fight against Russia, but not troops.

Other parts of Zelenskyy’s “victory plan” include post-war reconstruction pledges from Ukrainian allies and help in defending Ukraine’s natural resources.

Zelensky has discussed the plan in meetings with Western leaders in recent weeks. He said he would do so again on Thursday when he meets European Union leaders in Brussels.

Moscow criticized the Zelensky plan for risking a direct conflict between NATO and Russia.

“He is urging NATO members to enter into a direct conflict with our country and is once again insisting on permission to use long-range weapons on Russian territory,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Rutte did not respond directly to Kiev’s call for a formal NATO invitation.

“NATO in Washington has decided to pave the way for Ukraine to NATO membership [an] “We are in close contact with our allies, with Ukraine, to see how we can take the next steps in a way that is also successful.”

Rutte said he was discussing aspects of Zelensky’s plan with NATO member states.

“We are of course discussing the victory plan intensively with them and are using every opportunity to push this forward step by step,” said Rutte.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected Zelensky’s proposal, calling it a “temporary peace plan.”

“The only peace plan that can exist is for the Kiev regime to recognize the futility of the policies it is pursuing and the need for disillusionment,” Peskov said.

Some information for this report was provided by Agence France-Presse and Reuters.